My Experience Of Homecoming

Homecoming is one of the most important and celebrated week at college. Homecoming is an American tradition named from “coming home” (Huynh, T 2015, October 21). One of the first colleges to have a homecoming was Harvard. It was during a football game against Yale that they invited back their Alumnis in the 1870s (Cramton, I. n.d.). The Harvard vs. Yale homecoming was to get together and have a good time there at the game while everyone catch up and celebrate their school pride. For most colleges, homecoming week provides a week long of activities for students on campus. Student Events Team or other students involvement club will hold parties, parades, rallies, football games, and concerts that week. Every school is different and will do something

The campus itself felt comparable to the size of a town. A brief feeling of excitement was overtaken by apprehension. I had never lived on my own before, I was in a new state, and my parents were much further away than a walk down the hallway. These were some of the thoughts that filled my mind at the time. Before they left to head home, we had an exceedingly long and emotional conversation over dinner. They handed me a photo of us all which had a note on the backside. The note summarized their level of confidence, proudness, and despite forthcoming complications, they will always be there for their son. Tears of love ran down each of our faces as we said

Life normally doesn’t go the way you plan when you’re young. When I was little, I figured that when I was at the age of graduation I would be totally prepared to go off my own. As I sit and think about the topic of how my life is going, several thoughts pour into my mind. First, I think of how lucky I am. The past two years could’ve changed my life because of bad health. Through weeks and months of hospitals stays and hours spent in the doctor’s office and in the emergency room, I’ve come out lucky and I have almost returned to good health. Second, I think of those friends who I thought would be there for my whole life that are no longer a part of my life. I also look to the people who I never thought would be there by my side and realize

In the past, my parents did not have the privilege to go to college. At the age of twelve, they had to help their family with their agricultural work in the farm. There wasn’t time for them to study and go to college. Since this is my first year in college, I feel that it is a whole new different atmosphere from high school. Instead of going to classes meeting every day, it is typically two times a week. Ever since the first semester of college, I feel that I became more independent

My mother became depressed, my father became disabled, and my brother was skipping school. I continued going to school from eight until four, which was a big relief in my life because it made me forget the hard times. My grades slowly began to decline, as well as my motivation. I gave up many opportunities such as attending New York’s number one specialized high school. I recognized my mistakes and was able to identify my failure. School was not the only place where I lacked interest in because I also slowly started to push my friends away. As a young teenager, I did not think I would ever make it to college. I became frustrated at my parents because my life was ruined and it was all their fault.

On August 13th, 2016 my family and I started a new life. We were forced to relocate from Southern California to Prosper, Texas for my dad’s job. When I moved I knew absolutely no one. It was extremely hard to move away from my people that I have been friends with for almost my whole life. It was even harder to say goodbye to my grandma and my brothers. Finding new friends and adjusting to a new city in a new state was very difficult. On the first day of school, I was extremely nervous, because I didn’t know anyone.

In my culinary class, I have a lot of classmates I had from my previous years of middle school and high school. It was my 8th grade year of middle school to be exact. It was nice to be back reunited with them. We reminisced all the time about all the fun we had in 8th grade. We currently do a lot of group activities in this class, on account of it being only six kitchens

It was tough at first as everything was unfamiliar to me, but by my sophomore year, my sisters and I got used to the new life and started to love going to school. However, my parents were having a difficult time finding jobs. When my mom came home from the first day of work, she skipped dinner and cried the whole time. I finally understood how hard it was for her to give up her life in Vietnam and start over again. I learned to cook and to do chores around the house to help my parents. Instead of staying after school, I came home earlier, helped my sisters with homework, and cooked dinner for them when my parents came home late. I started doing a lot of things that I had never imagined I would ever do as a teenager. I saw myself changing slowly, becoming more of an adult, and it made me feel good. Seeing my parents’ struggling with their lives, I reminded myself that I had to try my best in school. I created a calendar for myself, so that I would never forget any homework assignments. I also found that keeping a studying schedule at home was very helpful for me to arrange my time logically. As a matter of fact, the schedule helped improve my grades in all the classes that I took. Day by day, I sensed the gradual development of responsibility in myself. I got admitted into UC Davis, my first step on my journey to become a

I knew college was going to change me in many ways. Yet, after my family and I restructured our collective and individual emotional reactivity over the three years that I was away at school, I believed my work in that department was done. I thought transiting into college was difficult, however, I found myself once again unprepared for the aftershock that rocked my family once I return from school. I left college a strong, independent, mature, and differentiated person, or at least I kind of did.

Moving to the US with my dad, I had to learn to take care of myself and be independent. I had to tell myself that my mom is a thousand miles away and i’m on my own now. I used to cry every night because I was feeling homesick and i miss my mom and siblings so much. I miss the moments in the place I grew up in. I miss all the moments that I had with my siblings, playing and just being kids. I miss the moments where my mom would teach me how to cook and how to do other chores at home. I miss the moments where my mom was just steps away ready to comfort me. Because of this huge transition in my life, I became the person who I am today. I learned how to be independent and be stronger. I learned how to be a bigger person. My first week in the US was quite difficult. I wake up every morning only to realize that i’m in a different place. I cook breakfast for myself everyday, and I felt really lonely because I was just by myself in the kitchen. I feel so alone. Everything in the US was very fast paced and you have to move quickly or you’ll get left behind and you wouldn’t have any progress. On my first day at school, i felt so left out. Everybody were talking to their friends and there I was standing in the corner, not sure what to do. I tried to blend in but it was hard for me because i was scared that they might judge me. However, after a couple more weeks, I finally adjusted to my new lifestyle and met

It was my brother at his MUHS graduation, and it sparked me to look at other photos from Marquette High. I saw pictures from senior shared life, sporting events and other graduations. I started to cry, these were things that I wanted to experience, I wanted to be part of the community that existed in these photos. Still, I was not looking forward to my junior year, my grades were bad, I had no friends and I had no interests. However this all changed in my sixth period American Hero class. I had heard stories of Mr. Kearney and was eager to be in his class. When I sat down, I randomly picked a spot in the class but was soon accompanied by kid with ungroomed blonde hair. Roll call ensued and I quickly figured out this kid was Dan Drees, a person I had heard of but never spoken to. We continued to sit by each other throughout the semester, but only made small conversation. Next semester Dan and I shared another class and free period and this is where our friendship truly developed. I began to sit next to Dan and his friends at lunch and they welcomed me with open

My mind was racing with thoughts about how I hated my major and never wanted to study history in the first place, how I didn’t feel I was smart enough for the school or scholarships I had earned and how I just really wanted to leave and go back to Holland because I did not love the school I thought I loved. The next day I met my mom at Aquinas College and after even more tears I explained how I wanted to drop out. After filling out paperwork and packing my things I left with my mom to Holland feeling like a failure because I dropped out of college not even forty- eight hours after moving in. When we got home my mom made a big dinner to cheer me up and said these words that still give me so much hope, “Today is the start of your new life”. After that day I truly began my new life, since I had so much time on my hands I started volunteering at Herrick District Library, a place that I have always loved, once a week, began learning how to drive and found a major that I am truly passionate about. Ultimately, I started doing what made me happy and it has turned a situation that looked sad, confusing and hopeless into a land of new

The experience of entering college focuses new attention on one’s attachment relationships, specifically the revision of attachment to parents

My family and I had moved over the summer and it was the first time in months since we had the whole family under the same roof. Prior to the official move, my parents lived in Fresno first, while Lillian, Megan, and I finished up school in the Bay, and Tracey was studying at Riverside, so my family was scattered throughout California for a while. Although it's been nice to have the whole family together again, there were moments of loneliness when I remembered I wouldn't see my friends again. We had just graduated high school so I anticipated a summer of crazy memories and spontaneous adventures just one last time with them before we started our new lives. Of course the move ruined summer plans, so my friends have made plans to visit my house to have one last meet up before we all went to college, but they never pulled through since their own lives got in the way. Excitement spread throughout my body as I recognized Nick and Evan since they were my friends by

Now that I am reaching the end of my undergraduate career I feel like it’s fit to reflect on how far i’ve come and some high and low points during this time of my life. Some people may say that these four years of college are the most wonderful times of their life, and for the most part that is correct. But there is this whole other part of college life that is super stressful and even scary. During this paper I will address my personal development and how certain experiences played a role in those developments. Even though I feel like i’ve grown a lot and have developed and learned new things, I have run into some issues. Those issues being family/culture, social and emotional growth, intellectual growth, values and beliefs, citizen and community member.